Sri Veera Venkata Sathyanarayana Swamy

History

Annavaram aboard of Lord Satyadeva present in this temple with his consert Sri Anantha Lakshmi and Lord Siva on the sides of the deity is located at banks of the Pampa River in East Godavari district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. This place got the name Annavaram because of the constant food distribution by the benevolent people of the locality. In telugu annam means food which gives the name Annavaram. The other saying is that the deity here blesses the devotees with 'anina varam' which means 'wanted Boon' so this place is called Annavaram.
The hillock near this place are considered very sacred because, Meruvu, the lord of hills with his consert Menaka did a great penance and blessed with two sons by Lord Vishnu named Bhadra and Ratnakar. Bhadra with his devotion and penance became Bhadrachalam with the grace of Lord Vishnu. Ratnakar following his brother did a penance for Lord Vishnu impressed with his devotion Lord Vishnu settled on his as Veera Venkata Satyanarayanaswamy, Ratnakara remaining as Ratnagiri. Besides the main deity there are also Sri Rama, Vana Durga and Kanaka Durga temples nearby. At the foot of the hill there is a temple for gramadevatha"Nerellamma" which is considered as village deity. When the deity was intially found by brahmin boy named Earanki prakasam a small shead was initially constructed in 1891. Later a small temple was constructed by the local villagers and in 1933-34 the temple was reconstructed by locally available stone. When the temple reached the dilapiated condition, it was reconstructed during 2011-2012. The main temple is constructed in the form of a chariot with the four wheels at each of the four corners. It is said to be seen even to this day the goddess Vana Durga in nights, go about the holy precincts perpetually guarding the Lord's premises. The idol of the main deity is about 13 feet high in a cylindrical form, the base being in the lower sanctum representing Lord Brahma and the top is in the upper sanctum representing Lord Vishnu. The middle portion represents Lord Siva. The image of the lord forming a single idol representing the Trimurthis-Brahma, Vishnu and Siva is of unique attraction.
Sri Satyanarayana Vratham is a famous festival that is celebrated by hindus for wealth, education, prosperity, relief from troubles and sickness and success in business. Though Ekadasi is considered to be very auspicious for this vratham, the individual devotees perform it even on other convenient days. The origin of the vratham is , once a highly educated and devoted Brahmin who had no means of livelihood was wandering around from place to place for food taking pity on his poverty Lord Vishnu appeared before him in the disguise of a Brahmin and advised him to perform the vratham of Lord Satyanarayanaswamy who is the incarnation of Lord Vishnu. He also told him the way in which the vratham was to be performed. The Brahmin thereupon got up early in the morning and went out for alms. He got enough funds for celebrating the vratham and did it as per the directions given by Lord Vishnu. Consequenty, he was blessed by the Lord with prosperity and lived very happily with his family and attained salvation after death. A poor man who has been earning livelihood selling firewood from the forests went to that Brahmin's house for water to quench his thirst, while the Brahmin was engaged in performing Satyanarayana swamy Vratham. He waited till the end, quenched his thirst and enquired as to what the vratham was. The Brahmin told him in detail all about it and the poor man had decided to perform the vratham himelf and to spend the next day's earnings for the vratham. He performed the vratham with great devotion and became prosperous, happy and attained moksham.
Another legend about Satyanarayana Vratham mentioned in Skandapuranam was as follows: A rich Vaisya couple Sadhuvu and Leelavathi took a vow to perform Satyanarayana Vratham were blesssed with a dauther Kalavathi as a result of this vow. They got her married to a worthy young man who flourished in business and amassed great wealth by the grace of Lord Satyanarayanaswamy. But they forgot to perform Satyanarayana Vratham. They went to Ratnasanapuram on the seashore and commenced business there to add to their wealth. But they had lost the grace of the Lord, as they did not keep up their vow of performing vratham, amidst their prosperity. One night the treasury of the local king had been looted. Sadhuvu and his son-in-law were imprisoned on suspicion, even though they were really innocent. The mother and daughter became poor and sick and were forced to beg for food from house to house. While begging for food kalavathi witnessed Satyanarayana Vratham in a Brahmin's house and waited they're to receive the Lord's prasadam. She explained to her mother this incident as the reason for her being late in returning home. Leelavathi then remembered about the vratham and decided to perform it with no loss of time. By the Lord's grace she got all facilities to perform it. The lord was pleased with the vratham, and Sadhuvu and his son-in-law were released and all their welath were also returned to them. There were happy and started back to there place in a boat, leelavathi happy to hear this was in hurry to pick her husband forgot taking the prasad of Satyanarayanaswamy. The consequence was that the boat with the cargo and the son-in-law drowned in the sea. Sadhuvu was much grieved to see his only daughter preparing for sahagamana soon realized that Lord Satyanarayana alone could save him fervently prayed to him. Kalavathi rushed home, took the prasadam and hurried back to the seashore. There she saw her husband Ratnakara safe on the shore. She told him all about the Lord. He was so much impressed that he prayed to the Lord and with His blessings changed into Ratnagiri hill on which the Lord took His permanent abode. It is believed that river Pampa running by the hill is none other than kalavathi, who melted with ecstasy at the grace of the Lord and her husband's achievement and began to flow as Pampa River.

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Events

Ashadha Shukla Paksha Ekadashi is known as Devshayani Ekadashi. Lord Vishnu goes to sleep on this day and wakes up after four months on Prabodhini Ekadashi.
Devshayani Ekadashi comes just after famous Jagannath Rathyatra and currently falls in month of June or July on English calendar. Chaturmas, a holy period of four months in Hindu calendar, starts from this day.
Devshayani Ekadashi is also known as Padma Ekadashi, Ashadi Ekadashi and Hari Shayani Ekadashi.
Parana means breaking the fast. Ekadashi Parana is done after sunrise on next day of Ekadashi fast. It is necessary to do Parana within Dwadashi Tithi unless Dwadashi is over before sunrise. Not doing Parana within Dwadashi is similar to an offence.
Parana should not be done during Hari Vasara. One should wait for Hari Vasara to get over before breaking the fast. Hari Vasara is first one fourth duration of Dwadashi Tithi. The most preferred time to break the fast is Pratahkal. One should avoid breaking the fast during Madhyahna. If due to some reasons one is not able to break the fast during Pratahkal then one should do it after Madhyahna.
At times Ekadashi fasting is suggested on two consecutive days. It is advised that Smartha with family should observe fasting on first day only. The alternate Ekadashi fasting, which is the second one, is suggested for Sanyasis, widows and for those who want Moksha. When alternate Ekadashi fasting is suggested for Smartha it coincides with Vaishnava Ekadashi fasting day.

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Though every day is a festival day at the Ratnagiri shrine, there are certain special celebrations which are dear to the devotees, which the Devasthanam celebrates with great devotion, sanctity, and eclat i.e. Sri Swamyvari Kalyana mahotsavam, Sri Swamivari Jayanti, Bheeshma Ekadasi and Vysakha Ekadasi. The second day of the Shravana Shukla being the day of the Lord's descent is celebrated as the Lord's birthday with great clat. Sri Swamyvari Kalyana mahotsavam is a day celebration of the Lord's Kalyanam (Wedding) with his consort Sri Anantha Lakshmi which commence on the Vysakha Shudda Ekadasi. During the Kalayanam celebrations, various cultural programmes processions with beautiful decorations etc. are arranged. Grama sevas(Village festivals) are also conducted on every Ekadasi day on every during Dhanur Masam. Apart from these, 'Satyanarayana Vratam' are performed daily by devotees (only couples should perform the 'Vratam') to fulfil their wishes. Around one lakh vratams (fasts) are being performed here every year.
⋄ Accommodation - Accodomations are available
⋄ About - One fine weekend we decided to go Annavaram. It was the first time I got a chance to visit this shrine. It is located in one of the very scenic locations on the hill top towards the outskirts of the Kakinada city. This temple is a place which sees immense pilgrim crowd every year. Apart from the fact that the place is sacred, tourists are also attracted to this place because of its immense natural beauty and panoramic views surrounding it. From this hill top you can get a panoramic view of the surrounding green fields and villages.

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Now a days people keep visiting popular temples like Kasi, Vaishnodevi, Tirupathi, Srisailam etc, but we’re not aware of the temples in our districts that are historically significant. Gone are the days where one can know about the temples in books, it’s a application world and everything is at one touch. then why not Devotional at one touch? Here’s that one touch application “BHARATHIYAM”. Bharathiyam bridges the gap between the past and the present while paving the way for the future. This application answers all the questions about devotion & Spirituality and also passes the information about the landmark, history, speciality and many more interesting articles about the temples.